Announcing two lectures at the RDS in Dublin, Ireland. This year the date and location have changed, so check the website for details.

Both lectures are on Saturday 1st September 2007; in the first lecture at 1.00 pm Tom Greenfield ND will introduce the concept of the GenoType Diet in the forthcoming book by Dr. Peter D'Adamo ND. The venue is the Nutrition Theatre, places are limited.

In the second lecture at 4.00 pm Ingrid Greenfield of Artisan Bread Original will be demonstrating how to make sandwiches compatible with all blood groups, and samples for tasting will be available. The venue is Centre Hall.

Both speakers will be available at the Artisan Bread stand in the main exhibition hall on Saturday and Sunday.

There is a charge for entry to the event on the day, but free tickets can be obtained in advance from the website.

What a great conference: lots of speakers with new information on genetics and individuality, all giving the background information for the new concept revealed by Dr. D'Adamo.

The Book The GenoType™ Diet is to be on sale from December 26th, 2007. The concept takes us beyond blood types, to a new categorisation of 6 distinct genotypes:

The Hunter

The Gatherer

The Teacher

The Explorer

The Warrior

The Nomad

Although these genotypes include blood group and secretor status information, they do not all exclusively relate to one single blood type: individuals fitting into certain genotypes may have one of several possible blood types. The new additions to the genotypes over and above the genetic information associated with blood types includes many easily accessible measurements:

Dermatoglyphic (fingerprint) patterns

D2-D4 ratio (second and fourth finger length)

Tooth shape

Upper to lower leg ratio

Body shape

Head shape

These are associated with 'epigenetic' factors that do not change the actual genes of the individual, but influence how they are expressed, like a volume control that can be moved up or down to vary the amount that a certain gene interacts with the environment.

Other influencing factors on a person's genotype include both ancestral DNA haplogroups and ayurvedic doshas. It looks like the result will be the fusion of ancient wisdom, anthropometric techniques from the last century, and modern cutting edge genetic science - with a strong influence from the blood type information that is associated with diet and health.

Each genotype has different disease risks and health benefits, and the book will outline the best preventitive strategies for each type. It promises to be a new generation of naturopathic medicine.

The UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has agreed in principle to screening and selection of embryos for couples who have the possibility of passing on a gene for breast cancer.

Previously genetic screening has only been carried out for embryos with the risk of having a gene that always causes disease, such as cystic fibrosis.

Now the HFEA are allowing screening of genes on a case by case basis that would give the individual an increased risk of disease, such as the BRCA1 gene, which raises the risk of cancer in adulthood by 60-80%.

Comment:

This kind of approach can be seen as a move away from human genetic diversity and the concept of addressing the environmental influences of switching genes on or off, towards a genetic inbreeding and the kind of uniformity depicted by Huxley.

A previous entry on this column described how polyethylene glycol could be used to 'hide' the blood group antigens on a red blood cell, turning any transfused blood into something that looks like O negative to the recipient's immune system.[1] The entry also mentioned another method using the galactosidase enzyme, which can transform group B blood into group O by removing the galactose from the blood cell surface. The problem with the enzyme-based method was that the enzymes used for converting blood (taken from green coffee beans) were relatively inefficient, and a lot of enzymes would be needed to do the job, not necessarily at a neutral pH, which could be detrimental to the blood cells.

It did not therefore seem like an April fool joke when the journal Nature Biotechnology reported on April 1st a method of transforming any blood into blood group O. The paper announces the discovery of "two bacterial glycosidase gene families that provide enzymes capable of efficient removal of A and B antigens at neutral pH with low consumption of recombinant enzymes".[2] The researchers described how two bacteria, Elizabethkingia meningosepticum and Bacterioides fragilis, contain enzymes that can remove both A and B antigens from red blood cells. This still does not address the problem of the Rhesus antigen on the blood cells of Rhesus positive individuals, which means that to make universal donor blood that is acceptable for anyone in an emergency (O Rh negative), the blood would have to be taken from Rhesus negative donors, who are in the minority compared with Rhesus positive individuals.

Patient trials will be needed before the blood group conversion method can be used in live situations to ensure that the IgM antibodies against opposing blood group antigens are not activated.

A news article from the BBC suggests that the UK government may be overlooking research that contradicts the link between childhood obesity and exercise.[1]

The government supports exercise for children, while apparently not acknowledging that other factors such as genetics, diet and socioeconomic status could be more significant in preventing childhood obesity. A long-term research programme, the EarlyBird Study was established to explore a possible causal link between the rising incidence of type 1 diabetes and insulin resistance.[2] Type II diabetes, formerly known as "late onset", was renamed due to the increasing prevalence in children. Results from the EarlyBird Study assert that Type I and type II diabetes are the same disorder of insulin resistance, set against different genetic backgrounds.[3]

The findings of the study cast doubts on the government's strategy to halt the increase in childhood obesity by the end of the decade, largely by encouraging physical activity. Results from the programme so far have produced several published papers, some concluding that increasing exercise is not necessarily the best way to prevent obesity:

"The evidence at present suggests that neither better facilities, nor an increase in the amount of time allocated to PE to four hours a week (as recently proposed by the Government), will improve physical activity levels in children as a whole and thereby impact on the rising tide of obesity."[4]

The programme director, Professor Terence Wilkin, said "children's activity levels had no bearing on their body mass index" (a measure of obesity risk in the growing child). His team has been unsuccessful in their appeal to government ministers for funding to continue the study. The BBC also quotes Professor Philip James, from the International Obesity Task Force, who said it was much easier for the government to concentrate on promoting sport rather than taking on the food industry, which has "enormous political and strategic power".

The EarlyBird Study is another example of the kind of research that should be promoted, as it is holistic in outlook, starting early in life, before diseases have become irreversible, it measures many variables and challenges the status quo, which is often maintained by vested financial and political interests. The following are some examples of other conclusions reached from the study:

* Notions of overnutrition and underactivity alone are too simplistic in the development of obesity and insulin resistance in children.[5]

* 5 year-old girls are some 33% more insulin resistant than boys.[6]

Meanwhile, Canadian genetics research at Montréal's McGill University have found four additional SNPs implicated in type II diabetes. As well as the known TCF7L2 gene (transcription factor 7-like 2, on chromosome 10), the presence of multiple gene associations "constitute proof of principle for the genome-wide approach to the elucidation of complex genetic traits."[7]